What Will Never Be
by historylover
Summary: Repost of my one-shot. What if Sam got hit by that djinn instead of Dean in WIaWSNB?


A/N #1—This was the product of a feverish mind when I first posted it. Stupid allergies. But, WIaWSNB is my favorite episode. I started wondering what would have happened if Sam was the one that the djinn gave the whammy to. How does he really see Dean? Or himself?

And, I realize that I don't write Sam well. I write Dean much better. So, forgive me for this. But, as it is, this is a very long one-shot. A very long one-shot. Oh, and it's AU, but based on WIaWSNB, which is my favorite Supernatural episode. So, spoilers for that episode. Also, allusions to AHBL. Just because I can. Also, I got a review first time that they don't think this would be Sam's wish. I really don't care. :)

A/N #2—My long-term readers (I love y'all so much!) may recognize some elements of an earlier story that I wrote. I can't say it's completely coincidental, seeing I wrote both, but I really didn't set out to steal, well, from me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural in any way. And, since I'm very much aware now that my allergy attack is getting better that I'm directly copying this episode from my memory of it, the awesome Raelle Tucker wrote this episode and Kripke brilliantly directed it. So, I really apologize to them and y'all.

**What Will Never Be**

Sam realized this was a bad idea. Splitting up with Dean never produced anything good. Still, he had to agree that the two of them could cover more ground if they were split up.

He walked through the abandoned warehouse, on guard. Every little sound was amplified. He also felt like someone was watching him.

_Get it together, Winchester. You've done this many times before._

Sam lifted the lamb's blood coated silver knife up and turned around. Nothing. He turned back, only to see the blue-tattooed djinn standing in front of him.

_Oh, shit_, Sam thought as the djinn shoved him against the wall. He lost his flashlight and the knife in quick succession. The djinn's hand glowed an eerie neon blue, which matched its eyes. The djinn slammed his hand against Sam's forehead.

Sam felt his eyes roll back into his head and his body go slack.

* * *

He jerked awake, breathing hard, in a cozy-looking bedroom. It looked oddly familiar, in spite of the darkness.

He felt the bed move beside him. "Sam, have a bad dream?" Jessica slurred, sleepily beside him.

"Jess?" He breathed.

"Mmm." She smiled at him, then rolled over and went back to sleep.

Sam jumped out of bed and grabbed his cell phone. He scrolled down the contact list, seeing odd people and numbers in his phone. Finally, he found Dean's number, which was unfamiliar. Like everything else. He hit the "send" button and counted the rings on the phone until the phone clicked on.

"Sam?" Dean's sleepy voice came through the speaker. "What are you doing? Do you know what time it is?"

Sam checked his watch. "Yeah, it's 12:30 here."

"Well, it's 2:30 here, and everyone's asleep. What is it?"

"Dean, I found the djinn, and I think it did something to me."

There was a pause, then Dean's voice sounded more amused. "Since when do you drink gin?"

Sam sighed in frustration. "No, not _gin_, a _djinn_! And, get this, Jess is alive!"

Dean's voice started sounding confused and concerned. "Yeah… why wouldn't she be? Look, Sammy, I'll pick you up at the airport tomorrow. We can talk about this on the drive to Lawrence."

"Lawrence?"

"Sam, are you feeling alright? Maybe you better lay off the gin. Or, better yet, save it for me. We can get drunk together or something after Mom's birthday celebration."

"Dean, I'm not drunk! You know what I'm talking about!" Suddenly, he heard Dean's words. "What do you mean 'Mom'?"

Dean sighed. "Sleep it off or something, Sammy. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, Dean hung up.

Sam looked at his phone, then continued to scroll down his list of contacts in his phone. He found it right away. "Mom," he read on the screen.

He hit the speed dial to call his mom, wondering what, if anything he was going to say to her if she answered the phone. Obviously, she was still alive—how, he didn't know.

_How can this be happening?_

The other phone was picked up. "Sammy? Is everything alright?" He heard a woman ask.

"M-mom?" Sam stuttered out. He walked over to the coffee table, and picked up some family pictures of himself, Dean, Dad and… Mom. Pictures that couldn't possibly exist. Yet, he was holding them in his hand.

"Sammy, what's wrong?"

"N-nothing," he stammered again. "I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday."

"At 2:45 in the morning?"

"I'm sorry." Sam felt tears sting his eyes.

"That's alright, hon. I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm looking forward to it. Good night, baby. Get some sleep." With that, she hung up.

Sam sat on the couch, looking at his phone. He couldn't believe what was happening. Yet, it felt so right.

* * *

Sam knocked on the mythology professor's office door, and the professor answered it. "Dr. Randall? I don't know if you remember me. I was in your mythology class a couple years ago."

"Of course I remember you. Sam Winchester. Come on in." He led Sam inside the office and sat at his desk. "So, what are you doing now?"

"Apparently, I'm in law school."

"Apparently? What, you can't believe you're in law school? I remember you very well, Sam. Professors always remember exceptional students. And, I know you'll have no problems in your studies."

"Thanks." Sam took a seat opposite the professor. "This is gonna sound strange, but I was wondering about djinns. Or genies."

"What do you want to know about them?"

"Can they really grant wishes?"

"Well, theoretically." Dr. Randall got up and pulled a book off his shelf. He flipped through it until he found what he was looking for and set the book down in front of Sam. "It depends on the story. Some genies grant three wishes, while others grant one. They are mostly Indian in origin."

"Can they grant unspoken wishes? Even wishes that you really had never said to anyone before? Like you wish that someone was alive?"

Dr. Randall gave Sam a funny look. "Djinns are myths, son. They're not real."

Sam cleared his throat. "I know. I just wanted some more information." He smiled at Dr. Randall. "Thanks for the information."

"No problem, Sam. Good luck in law school. You'll do just fine. I guarantee it."

* * *

Sam left campus and headed out to his car. He had to pick up Jess in a few minutes and get to the airport to make his 10:00 flight. Things were starting to feel more natural, although he felt strange that he wasn't heading to the Impala.

As he unlocked the car door, he turned towards campus again. Standing in the midst of the students, seemingly oblivious to everyone, was Dean. Just staring at Sam.

The stare sent shivers down Sam's spine.

"Dean?" Sam started to cross the street, but a passing car blocked his way. When the car passed, the figure was gone.

Sam turned back to his car and got inside, feeling unusually shaky by the appearance of the figure.

* * *

Sam and Jess stepped into the terminal of KCI and looked around. Sam immediately spotted Dean, but he stopped in his tracks at the sight of the boy who had his arms around Dean's neck, squealing with delight as Dean gave him a piggyback ride. A pretty woman who was holding a little girl on her lap was laughing at their antics.

Dean looked up and spotted Sam. "Hi, Sammy!" He walked over to Sam and Jess as the woman stood up and moved toward them as well. "Mike, can you loosen the chokehold on the neck, please?" He choked out.

The boy giggled and loosened his arms.

"Hey, Dean," Sam grinned as the little boy launched himself into Sam's arms.

"Uncle Thammy!" The little boy lisped and wriggled around in Sam's arms.

Dean chuckled as he stepped around to Jess. "Hi, Jess," He said before he kissed her cheek. "So, you're still with him? You do know you can do so much better than this ginormous geek, right?"

She giggled. "I don't think so."

"If Mike's too much of a handful, you are more than welcome to put him down, Sam," the woman said. "He's all boy. Takes after his father so much."

"No, he doesn't!" Dean said, in mock horror."

"Mandy, is this Jordan?" Jess stepped forward and motioned for the little girl, who hid against her mother's neck. "She's gotten so big since the last time I saw her!"

"Are you being shy?" Mandy asked the girl. "Can you say hi to your Uncle Sam and Aunt Jess?"

The little girl shook her head, her brown curls bobbing on her shoulders, and buried her face deeper in her mother's neck.

Dean stepped forward and held out his hand to Sam. Sam looked at it for a while, because this wasn't the Dean he knew. At Dean's puzzled, almost hurt look, he quickly shook hands with his older brother.

Dean's hurt look was quickly replaced by a cocky grin. "So, how's the big-time lawyer? Still showing them up at Stanford?"

Sam chuckled as he and Dean grabbed his bags on the conveyor belt. "Trying to."

"Oh, Mom has some papers for you to sign. About the sale of Dad's garage. So, give the lawyerly once-over, see if anything's fine."

"How's Mary doing?" Jess asked Dean and Mandy.

"She's doing alright. About as well as you would expect. I mean, it's been less than a year since John's death. But, she's got friends and coworkers at KU to help her get through. And, we're close enough that she sometimes comes up when Dean's not on call," Mandy said.

Sam glanced over at Dean, who had a flicker of guilt flash across his face. "It's not your fault that Dad died, Dean."

Dean looked up with a strange flash of anger. "I know that! It's the asshole who decided to have one too many and then got behind the wheel. And, he wasn't even hurt in the accident! Prick walked away from the wreck!"

"Fifty cents in the cussing jar, Dean," Mandy whispered beside him.

Dean stopped and dug into his pocket and pulled out a dollar. "I'll collect change later."

Mandy took the bill. "I really doubt you'll be getting change." She walked off, arm and arm with Jess, chatting away about her pregnancy and work, while Jess chatted away about school at the same time.

"OK, so what was that phone call about last night?" Dean fell into step with Sam.

Sam sighed. "I don't know. It's probably nothing. Have you ever felt like this normal life is unfamiliar? Like it's not yours?"

"Yeah, we all feel that way, but what were you doing drink gin about it? You hardly ever drink."

"No, I wasn't drinking gin." Sam sighed. "Forget it."

"Alright."

While heading out to the parking lot, Sam looked around, trying to find the Impala. Standing on the edge of the parking lot was Dean again, this time, looking a little worse for wear. He was gray. A couple trickles of blood from his nose and hairline stood up in contrast to his deathly pale skin. A car passed by the figure, and once again, he disappeared.

"Sammy?" Sam looked over at Dean, who was standing by the Impala. "Are you sure you're OK?"

Sam shook his head to clear that disturbing image. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"OK." Dean walked around to the back of the Impala and opened the trunk where he deposited Sam's and Jess' bags by their own. They both got in the front seat of the Impala and slammed the doors in unison.

"Heh, I missed doing that," Dean chuckled. "Mandy can't get the rhythm down."

"Shut up," Mandy called from the back seat and resumed her endless chatter with Jess.

"'Shut up' isn't considered money-in-the-cuss jar material?" Dean jokingly asked.

"Nope."

Jess interrupted their chatter. "So, Dean, how's the firehouse?"

"It's going OK."

"You chief yet?"

Dean laughed. "No, not yet. Don't want to be either. But, I'm now on search and rescue."

"Don't remind me," Mandy groaned. "I'm scared of that job."

Sam kept looking at Dean, wondering who his brother was. His brother, a firefighter, with a wife, two kids, and one on the way? It strangely made sense, although nothing about this was familiar. It was like he had amnesia for this life, only remembering his hunting life.

Dean glanced over and caught Sam's stare. "What?"

"It's nothing."

"You're acting very strange, Sammy."

"Hey, maybe we can do some hunting together or something like that this weekend."

Dean frowned, "Hunting? Why would you want to do that?"

"Just to do something together, like we did before all of this."

"Why hunting? We've never gone hunting."

Sam leaned back against the seat and watched the highway roll by. Lawrence was practically in Kansas City's back yard, only an hour away, but already, it was feeling like a long drive as he listened to Dean, Jess, and Mandy talk enthusiastically while Mike kept asking "Are we there yet?" with Jordan echoing him.

_Something's very weird here._

* * *

Dean pulled up to the house and shut off the car. "We're here," and grinned at his kids' cheers.

Sam stepped out of the car and opened the back door for Jess while looking around. He had been back here only once. When they came to drive the poltergeists from the house. When they met Missouri. The house was different, older-looking, with a white picket fence and roses surrounding the posts. The tree was exactly the same.

He looked over as Mary came out of the house to greet them. Mike ran to her while Jordan toddled behind him. "Gama!" They called as they hugged her knees.

She untangled herself and went over to hug Dean and Mandy. Then she walked over to hug Jess. Finally, she stepped to Sam.

"You alright, Sammy?" Her voice was soft and low, full of concern.

Sam felt tears sting his eyes again, and he cleared his throat. "I'm OK, Mom."

She stood on her tiptoes to hug him. "I'm so proud of you. Your dad would have been too."

"Thanks, Mom," Sam whispered as he hugged her back.

* * *

That night, after enlisting Mary's next door neighbor to babysit the kids, everyone headed back for Kansas City to eat at Skies and admired the breath-taking vista of downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Although, Dean joked that it was hard to find your place after you go to the bathroom, since the room rotated in order to give its patrons a 360° panorama of the downtown area.

Sam sat, eyeing Dean interact with the three women. Everything he did seemed so natural, yet so weird. The consideration he showed Mary, the joking with Jess, the occasional loving touches between him and Mandy. He seemed like a different man. A happier man.

Yet, it was surreal. This wasn't the Dean he knew.

"So, we've got another present for you, Mary," Jess laughed.

"Oh? What is it?" Mary perked up from among her other gifts.

Jess held out her left hand and displayed the ring that Sam was looking at before Jess died. She squealed, "Sam and I are getting married!"

"I knew it!" Mandy squealed as she jumped around to hug Jess."

"Sam, you dawg. You kept a secret for once. Congratulations. You got a very good and obviously a very tolerant woman," Dean said as he stepped around to shake Sam's hand. Then, he walked over to Jess. "Hey, sis. Welcome to the family. Really, do you think you can put up with this guy?"

"I'll try my damnedest."

Sam stepped back and looked at the four others celebrating his upcoming nuptials. A shadow caught his eye. He looked over at the door and spotted the figure of Dean again. This time, he looked dead. He looked back over at Dean who was happily teasing Jess about marrying into the family.

He looked back at the doorway to see the ghostly figure again. He moved towards it, but waiters blocked his view of the figure. Once the waiters cleared away, the figure was gone.

He looked back towards the table to see Mary, Jess, Mandy, even Dean looking at him like he had suddenly grown three heads.

He focused on Dean, still shakily thinking of the ghostly figure at the doorway.

_What exactly is going on? _Sam wondered. _Which one is real?_

* * *

"I just thought I saw someone I knew," Sam protested again as they walked through the door to the house. It had been an awkward car ride back, and he was feeling a little ashamed of freaking out at seeing that ghostly figure of his brother.

He just still felt weird in this place.

"I'm turning in now," Mary said as she kissed them all good night. "Thank you for making this a great birthday for me."

"G'night, Mom," Dean said as he turned toward Sam and Jess. "Hey, the night's still young. What say we all go and do a little celebrating?"

"Hey, if I can't drink alcohol, you're not either! Remember our deal?" Mandy laughed as she grabbed Dean's hand.

"Actually, it has been a long day. I'm about ready to turn in myself," Jess said. "So, good night, you guys." She gave Sam a kiss, then headed up the stairs.

"I guess I'm going to bed, too," Mandy gave Dean a quick kiss. "Don't wake me up when you come up."

"Well, that sucks out loud," Dean muttered as he sat down on the sofa and flipped on the television while he yanked off his tie.

A news report caught Sam's eye before Dean flipped the channels. "Hey, go back to that, will you?" he asked as he sat in an easy chair.

"What? _I Dream of Jeannie_'s on," Dean complained.

"Just turn it back, will you?"

Dean sighed as he flipped the channel back. The channel was covering the one year anniversary of the crash of United Britannia Flight 424. Sam sat up straighter in his chair and intently watched the news report.

"Yeah, that was so tragic. The plane just disintegrated. Everyone died. No one really knows how it happened," Dean said.

"I don't understand," Sam whispered to himself.

"Well, there is a lot of tragedy in the world today," Dean stood up and tossed the remote on the coffee table. "It's all yours. Have a good time."

He walked upstairs. Sam looked back at the TV, then followed his brother up the stairs. He stood in the doorway of the kids' room and watched as Dean tucked his children into bed. Jordan rolled over and wrapped her little arms around his neck.

Sam backed away from the door and walked back downstairs. Although, he still felt weird, he knew he wouldn't be able to shake the image of Dean with his kids. Such a natural father. Sam already knew that, though. But, he also couldn't forget the image of the vigils remembering the plane crash.

He turned on the computer and accessed the Internet. After a couple hours, and more growing feelings of horror, he finally sat back in his chair.

_We stopped that crash! I remember it distinctly. That's when I found Dean has a freaky phobia about planes. So, I know we stopped that. And the epidemic in Fitchburg? That was a Shtriga. It's like those scenes in "It's a Wonderful Life" when Jimmy Stewart is being shown what the world would be like if he hadn't been born. This is what happens since we're not hunters. But, I don't understand. Dean's not supposed to be happy and normal, for once in his life? He's not supposed to have a family, like he's always wanted? I'm not supposed to become a lawyer—something I've always wanted to be—or have a normal life of my own? Last time I tried to have a normal life, Jess got in the way of that yellow-eyed bastard. And, what about Mom? She's not supposed to live, see her grandchildren? _

He also thought of the ghostly images of Dean he kept seeing. _What did that mean? Is Dean going to die? Is he already dead? _He shook his head, wondering again which Dean he kept seeing is the real thing. _Does this mean I'm supposed to save him somehow? But how?_

Sam sighed. He knew one thing he could do at least.

* * *

"Hey, Dean?" Sam whispered, gently shaking Dean awake. He knew he had to be careful. Waking up Dean like this was usually like waking up a grumpy bear.

Dean's sleep-blurred eyes slowly opened and tried to focus on Sam's face. "Oh, hell, no," he groaned sleepily. "Two nights in a row? What do you want now?"

"I need your help."

Dean groaned again and rolled over to get into a sitting position. Mandy buried herself deeper in the pillows and blankets and mumbled something incomprehensible before going back to sleep.

"OK, let's go out to the hall so we don't wake up Mandy," Dean whispered.

"Maybe we should go downstairs so we don't wake anybody up." Sam stood up and walked out the door. He went downstairs, trying to think of what to tell Dean.

A couple minutes later, Dean came down. He flopped in a chair, and ran his hand through his hair, making it stand up more. "So, what's up?"

"OK, so I'm not sure how to bring this up to you, but do you remember telling me that we should keep doing the family business? You know, hunting things, saving lives?" At Dean's confused look, Sam chuckled to himself. "No, Of course you don't remember that. _You _didn't say that. But, you know what you do? Saving people trapped in fires? You've always done that, y'know? Well, I'm not sure how to convince you that this is real, but that plane crash? We stopped it from crashing a year ago. But, suddenly, because of a wish on my part, we weren't there to stop it from crashing."

"Sammy, I know you've started studying for the bar, and I've heard that this exam makes even the sanest people crack up. But, this really is insane. You've got to calm down."

"I'm needing to finish something I started a couple days ago. It's obvious that you don't remember this, but you and I were hunting down a djinn. Before you start making cracks about liquor, that's where all this began. And, you're much better at the hunt than I am. It's in your blood, no matter what you believe now. So, I need your help."

Dean stood up and stepped forward, and Sam stepped back. Dean always had a way of intimidating Sam, even though he was 3 inches shorter. "You've always been annoying, but you've never been crazy. Saner than I am. I mean, you don't go into burning buildings, right? But, this conversation is insane. I think you need to stop studying and get some sleep." Dean said as he started heading for the stairs.

Sam sighed. "I know how this sounds, alright? I'm hearing it myself and thinking that my life really is insane. And, I tried a normal life before, and it's what I've always wanted. But, my experiment at a normal life turned out to be a disaster. So, it's back to saving people, hunting things. I'm hoping that I kill this djinn, this normal life will be what I have left. But, it's something I have to do. Even if I have to do it alone."

He walked outside, wondering how he could drive to Ohio with no car. The door burst open, and Dean followed him out. "OK, let's go wherever you want to go."

Sam grinned in relief. "I didn't think you'd come around."

"I don't believe this whole 'djinn' thing you've got going on in your head. But, I know you, Sammy. You've never been crazy, even though I'm worried about you now. So, I want to keep my eye on you. Besides, how are you gonna get wherever you're wanting to go? Because you sure as hell aren't taking my car without me. And, you're probably not gonna borrow Mom's car without asking her."

"You don't trust me?" Sam hid a smile.

"You've given me no reason not to trust you before. But, I don't understand what's going on with you. You've been acting so strangely. And this trip down insanity lane doesn't help my nerves. So, let's go. Get in." Dean stepped around to the driver's side of the car. "So, where are we going?"

Sam got inside. "Ohio."

Dean continued to start the car, but he stared at Sam incredulously. "Ohio!?"

"Yeah."

"We're gonna have a long drive ahead of us, so you better start talking, Sammy." Dean backed out of the parking lot.

Sam grinned at Dean. "OK. Jerk."

Dean frowned. "Don't call me jerk, moron."

"Well, you're supposed to say 'Bitch,' but forget it." Sam sat back. _Now this feels natural._

* * *

It was a long drive, but they finally made it. Dean's lead foot was obviously honed by times driving the fire engine from fire to fire, so they were able to shave about 2 hours off the drive.

Sam was amazed at Dean. Even though he threatened to turn around and throw Sam into a padded room at hearing the story of the djinn, he kept heading towards the abandoned warehouse, guided by Sam's directions.

"Is this it?" Dean asked as he parked the car in front of the warehouse.

"Yeah, this is it." Sam got out of the car. "Stay here, alright?"

"Hell with that." Dean slammed the door shut. "I'm not letting you go by yourself into that place. Who knows what could happen in there."

Sam walked into the warehouse and spotted a door leading downstairs. He hadn't been able to get to the basement last time. He wondered what was down there.

He opened the door and walked down the stairs, followed by Dean. He stopped at the sight of skeletons hanging on racks.

"Oh, Jesus," Dean breathed when he caught sight of the skeletons. "Sammy, let's leave now."

Sam saw an empty rack with an IV pole attached to it. There were a couple of victims, hanging on the racks. One victim was a girl in a white dress, standing in a pool of her own blood. She moaned, and Sam breathed a sigh of relief. She was alive, at least.

The djinn appeared again, and Sam hustled Dean to hide with him underneath the stairs. The djinn approached the girl and took out her IV needle from her neck. It squeezed some of her blood into its mouth.

The girl moaned again. "Dad?" she murmured, staring through the djinn.

The djinn fired up its hand, so it turned the eerie neon blue again and pressed it against her forehead. She muttered something again, before going back into a catatonic stare.

The djinn climbed the stairs, not noticing Sam and Dean underneath them. When Sam heard the door slam, he stepped out of his hiding place.

"What have you gotten us into? Let's get out of here before it comes back," Dean hissed at Sam.

The empty rack bothered Sam. "Dean, what if I'm in here, somewhere?"

"What?" Dean started heading back up the stairs. "Let's get out of here!"

Sam examined the rack. "What if I'm hanging here like she is, only I'm catatonic. But, I'm getting flashes that things aren't exactly right here. Oh, God. What if you're here too?" Sam turned to Dean. "The real you. The one I know."

Dean stepped back down. "Look, Stringbean, I'm real! I don't know what you're talking about, but this isn't real! Now, I'm going back to my real, normal world where I belong. And if you had the brains I gave you credit for, you'd follow me out of here!"

He turned and walked back up the stairs. Sam called up to him. "There's one way to figure out if I'm dreaming." He lifted the blood-soaked knife.

"What's that?"

"You don't die in dreams. If I'm dreaming, I can plunge this knife into me, and I'll wake up before it enters me."

Dean let go of the doorknob and walked back down the stairs. "What do you want from me, Sammy? Permission? To give up? To give in? To give into this darkness? Say you're right. Say you are dreaming all of this. Why would you want to go back to the life of a hunter? The isolation? The loneliness? Only relying on one another. What kind of life is that?"

Sam lowered the knife to his stomach. Dean gulped, then continued. "What's here that's really worth fighting for? You're gonna turn evil, and I'm gonna have to kill you. That's what's gonna happen in your 'real' world. I can't live with that. Wouldn't it be better to just give in to this dream? Give it a couple more hours, and you won't even remember this conversation anyways."

"I'll die here. In only a couple days." Sam lowered the knife away from his stomach.

"But, you'll be able to live a lifetime with us," Jess's voice came through, and she stepped forward. "Don't you love us? Don't you miss me? I miss you so much, Sam. I love you. We can be happy. We can make a life. You'll be a lawyer, like you always dreamed of. We can have a family. Kids. I think you'll make a wonderful father. So, you'll die here? It'll feel like a lifetime with us. With your loving, normal family."

"No. You're not real. None of you are real."

"Sure we are." Mary's voice cut through the darkness of the basement, and she stepped forward to appear beside Jess. "All I ever wanted was you and Dean to live happy lives. How can you have happy lives when all you see is terror and death? Things no one can even imagine? Going from one horror to another, never having a home? Never having a life? That's not what I wanted. That's not what you were supposed to have. And, now, you can have everything you ever desired. A real, normal life. All you have to do is just let go."

Sam lowered the knife to his side. He really, desperately wanted to believe them. Just let everything go and be happy. _I'm sure I can forget everything in a couple days._

He looked over at Dean, who stared at Sam with such concern and love in his eyes that it made Sam feel his fingers start to slip from the knife he was holding.

His eyes focused behind Dean when he saw shadows move away from a tombstone. _What's a tombstone doing here? Obviously, the djinn doesn't care about burying anyone, with the skeletons hanging around. _As he stared at the tombstone, the words etched on it started standing out.

"Dean Winchester, 1979-2008."

_Does this mean that Dean is gonna die without me alive in the insane, twisted life we really do lead? Is there any way to save him?_

Shadows claimed the tombstone again.

"Sammy?" Sam focused on Dean again. His brother continued. "Please don't do this to me. Don't kill yourself. Think of all you have to live for."

Sam looked down at his knife. That tombstone freaked him out, just as much as the ghostly appearances had done. _I have to save him!_

"I'm sorry, Dean." Sam lifted the knife again and plunged the blade into his stomach.

"Sammy!" He heard Dean yell.

* * *

"Sammy! C'mon, Sammy. Wake up." Dean's voice cut through the fog.

Sam slid into slushy consciousness, with Dean's face swimming before him. He didn't feel all that well. His arms hurt from hanging on something metal. Ropes were cutting into his wrists. A sting of an IV needle was burning his neck.

He groaned weakly, but it was enough to make Dean break out in a relieved grin.

"Oh, man. You've gotta stop doing this to me," Dean said as gently withdrew the needle from Sam's neck. "I'm tired of saving your ass all the time."

"Yeah, right. Remember that succubus?" Sam was surprised how dry and sore his throat was.

Dean drew the blood-soaked knife he was carrying across the ropes holding Sam's wrists. "That wasn't saving me. That was just fun. And you blew it for me. I should leave you strung up here just for that."

As Sam felt the ropes loosen around his wrists, his eyes focused on the room behind him. The djinn was creeping up behind Dean.

"Dean! Look behind you!"

Dean turned in time to avoid the djinn's glowing hand from touching his head. As Sam struggled to free his hands from the rack, the djinn kept coming after Dean.

Dean kept swinging his knife at the djinn, protecting his head from being touched by the djinn. Finally, he was able to connect with the creature with the tip of his blade. The lamb's blood on the tip made the djinn stagger backwards. Dean used the opportunity to stab the blade to the hilt in the djinn's chest.

The color faded from the djinn's hand. The eerie glow in its eyes soon followed. The creature stopped moving.

Dean stepped back. "OK, that was bracing." He turned back to the ropes that Sam had loosened enough that he could almost slip one hand through. Dean withdrew another knife and finished cutting the ropes loose.

Dean grabbed Sam's arms and gently pushed him down to the ground. "Here, sit down before you fall down."

"I'm alright." Sam protested, but he was grateful to sit down. He idly wondered how many hours he could have lasted with the djinn draining his blood to feed.

"So, how'd you find me?" he called out to Dean, who was roaming around, checking the other victims.

"You didn't call in, geekboy. And you didn't meet me at the designation. So, I went out looking in your warehouses. And there you were. All strung up." He checked the girl in the white dress's pulse, then gently but quickly pulled the needle from her neck. "Hey, Sammy. She's still alive! Are you able to give me a hand?"

Sam got to his feet, feeling stronger than he had a few minutes before. He cut the ropes holding the girl to her rack, and Dean caught her as she fell.

Dean picked her up and slowly walked her up the stairs. On his way, Sam heard him whispering to her, "It's gonna be all right. You're gonna be just fine."

Sam watched Dean go before slowly following him out.

* * *

"So, Mom was alive?"

Sam rubbed the bruises on his wrists and avoided Dean's eyes. "Yeah. Everything was normal, y'know? Really just I always hoped our family could have been. Jess was alive. Mom was alive. You were married, with kids. That was probably the weirdest part of the dream world. But, I don't know, there was something not right about it. Something I couldn't quite figure out."

Dean chuckled softly. "I was married? That's really twisted. You have a truly insane mind, y'know?" He watched Sam closely before continuing, "So, your wish was that Mom was alive?"

"No, it was to have a normal family. Everything started when Mom died. Except, I knew I wasn't normal. And, I think that was the problem."

Dean got off of his bed and paced the room. Sam asked, "So, what's the word on the other victims?"

"Well, there were three other survivors other than you. You were the latest, which is why you're in the best shape. That girl will be fine. The other two? It's really touch and go right now. I hope they survive." Dean stopped his pacing. "So, since you already experienced a normal life, were you tempted to let go of this life again?" He shook his head. "No, don't answer that. I already know the answer."

Sam grinned. "You're not getting rid of me that easily again."

Fin


End file.
